A half dozen major museums, artists and university presses are being sued for “appropriation” of copyrighted images. “The plaintiffs are seeking to hold the defendants liable for promoting and selling the disputed image, which they say was distributed on T-shirts, magnets, books, brochures, cards, websites and street billboards, including two immense building displays in New York arranged by the Whitney Museum. The lawsuit raises the question of what happens if an underlying image used in such a work is not in the public domain.” – The Art Newspaper
Author: Douglas McLennan
DOT-COM SHARES WORTH THE PAPER THEY’RE PRINTED ON
“Call it stock art: A group of New York artists are crafting what may be the most beautiful and speculative shares on the market. Entrepreneur Carol Braddock plans to sell the documents as art objects to fund Webbittown, a commerce-cum-community Web site. Over the past few months Braddock has assembled a roster of artists that reads like a who’s who of the downtown New York art scene. So far, the stocks have been embellished with everything from simple sketches to elaborate collages.” – The Standard
ACTOR JASON ROBARDS DIES
“Mr. Robards, 78, started out as a stage actor in the 1950s, gaining critical acclaim for his performances in Eugene O’Neill plays, including ‘The Iceman Cometh’ and ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’.”- Washington Post
WHAT’S IT TAKE?
The reviews were terrific, but three well-thought-of plays have failed to find audiences on Broadway. “Among the theories floated by people involved in these productions are the absence of stars in the casts, a strong season of straight plays on Broadway, subject matter that invites resistance (apartheid, the African-American experience, workplace tension) and the general difficulty of making straight plays economically viable these days.” – New York Times
UNCERTAINTY AT CARNEGIE
Plans for Carnegie Hall’s future are uncertain in the wake of the resignation of its director. For months long-time tenants of the hall have been having difficulty booking future dates, and it’s difficult to know what the concert hall’s policies will be. – New York Times
THE INTERNATIONAL ART
“Just as no football fan would ever mistake a Brazilian forward for a German one, so the seasoned ballet-goer likes to think they can tell an American or a Russian from the back of the gallery. Go to any performance of The Nutcracker in London or Manchester this week and you’ll see Danes dancing with Spaniards, Italians dancing with Japanese. Look hard and you may detect subtle differences of style. Yet stereotypes need to be handled with care: the surnames tell only half the story.” – The Telegraph (London)
FIRST NIGHT ALMOST LAST
Boston’s First Night New Year’s Eve celebrations are the biggest in the country, with hundreds of performances and artists participating. But last year, “to match large-scale celebrations planned in other major U.S. cities, First Night doubled its budget last year from $1.3 million to $2.7 million and spiffed up programming to include extras such as three days of cultural events, citywide laser shows and five fireworks displays.” Out-of-control costs nearly sank the popular event. – Boston Herald 12/26/00
THE ART OF APPEARING PRESIDENTIAL
A new exhibition at the Smithsonian in Washington DC shows how artists through the past 224 years depicted presidents of the United States. – New Jersey Online (AP) 12/26/00
IS OUR THEATRE OKAY?
Should a critic express grave concern over the state of Canadian theatre when the poorly funded non-profits embrace facile populism and the commercial sector shrinks to a shadow of its former self? Or do all those dynamic little shows popping up here and there indicate irrepressible creativity and renewed health?” – The Globe & Mail (Canada)
RECREATING SHAKESPEARE
A Massachusetts theatre company Shakespeare & Co. is trying to re-create the intimate atmosphere of the theatres in which Shakespeare first played Lenox, Mass. “The group plans to build the world’s only replica of the Rose Theatre, the London home of the Bard’s early plays.” – Washington Post (AP)